Stooge

Very cool! Great pictures, and looks like it was a fun show with great weather! Never having been to France, I have to say I'm very surprised. I expected to see the '60s/'70s muscle cars, etc., but i never would have guessed there was such a variety of American cars over there, and most surprising to me, are how many new corvettes, camaros and mustangs there are. Thanks for taking the time to document and share!

A few little updates, i've been getting distracted by some car projects for other people, but i have sort of set a little goal for myself to drive this to a regional Bay State Antique Auto Club show at the Endicott Estates in Dedham, MA. It's a show i've been frequenting for years and is a highlight show of the season for me, though since it was cancelled last yr, and postponed until July 2022, so that is my goal. I am guessing car may not be "finished" as far as interior is concerned by then, but it will shiny paint, and running/ driving, and will hopefully make me stop dragging my feet on finishing it. My last personal car project took atleast 7yrs,( i was also working on other's car projects) and admittedly started to lose interest near the end, and i would like to avoid that with this car. The rear of the car is mostly done, but i still have alot of grinding and sanding before bodywork can start. my car was missing the innermost lip around the trunk, so i built it the replacement stuff without it, so when i figured out it was missing, i added it. 2021-03-23_10-32-04 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 2021-03-23_10-31-56 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20210307_162601 by Dan Haas, on Flickr I've put together a starter and solenoid, though i am not so happy with the actuator linkage from the solenoid plunger. Solenoid came from Brillman, though i do not remember where the plunger came from, but i suspect i will need to find a new one, since it seems to bind. I am using an under dash starter switch in place of the accelerator pedal switch. 20210425_104000 by Dan Haas, on Flickr With what i believe is the correct NOS voltage regulator for using a dash switch. 2021-03-23_10-33-29 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 2021-03-23_10-33-40 by Dan Haas, on Flickr From the same person, (Jolly_john on here, i believe his username is) i picked up a set of NOS glass fender light lenses. i believe the shape of these indicate an earlier style and match the current leneses, just without cracks in them 2021-03-23_10-30-11 by Dan Haas, on Flickr and a 6 volt Optima so i can start trying some things. 2021-05-17_07-42-17 by Dan Haas, on Flickr Found a pair of the correct rear shocks, though they will need to get rebuilt. They both start to build tension with fluid added, but will weep out of the bushing/ joint overnight. The store Then & Now https://www.then-now-auto.com/shop-2/ is in the next town over and in the same town as my shop, so i will call them first and see if they rebuild this style shock, though i believe they do, i just havent done it yet. 20210509_101223 by Dan Haas, on Flickr Since i would like to start bodywork pretty soon, i dug out the door parts and proceeded to get them unfrozen, and made some keys for the door and trunk locks. The latch mechanisms both seem to be working well, and have a good "snap" to them. i need to find or make a new locking rod, i have only found the 1 so far in my crates of parts, annd i also plan on moving the locking handle to the driver side. i used some countersunk screws i had handy, but found envelopes with the correct hardware. Some previous owner, meticulously took the entire car apart, and bagged and labelled all of the hardware, and most of the smaller parts, but unfortunately, then proceeded to part the car out, so while i have a 100+ hardware envelopes, alot of the stuff was long gone when i came into possession of the car. 20210530_150030 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20210530_150047 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20210531_163734 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20210531_163943 by Dan Haas, on Flickr And yesterday, picked up something i wasnt really planning on using just yet, but they popped up for sale, hemmed and hawed over it for a morning and bought them, fold down rear opera seats. Especially after Lebaron Bonney went under, i really didnt expect to have much of an interior, and had not seen the rear seats for sale in my casual looking over the last few yrs, but i am glad to have them. Matching the upholstery will be down the road, but after i build it, i will get the rear support board covered to make it look a little more finished. 20210614_095519 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20210614_180157 - Copy by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20210614_180326 - Copy by Dan Haas, on Flickr Unfortunately i seem to be missing one of the supporting legs/ lever mechanism for latching the seat closed. The mechanism and latch are still in place, but the leg actuates the mechanism. i'll email the seller this morning to see if they have it, but i suspect not. 20210614_180242 by Dan Haas, on Flickr @DonMichelettiwas kind enough to send me some pictures of his car un-upholstered to steer me in the right direction as far as the backing board structure is concerned. I'll need to look into if im missing something to support the side cushion's upper loop mounts under the side window, and are just ziptied in place to get an idea of where they are supposed to locate. DSCN1557 - Copy by Dan Haas, on Flickr DSCN1559 - Copy by Dan Haas, on Flickr DSCN1560 - Copy by Dan Haas, on Flickr The service manual's depiction of the seats 2021-06-01_10-27-54 by Dan Haas, on Flickr A 1966 GTO i had been working on went to paint a few weeks ago, and i pushed the buick outside to do some spring cleaning 20210509_123058 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20210509_123127 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

Hi Everyone, in my on going modest restoration of my 1937 Buick Century Coupe that had long been stripped and parted out, i unexpectedly stumbled on, and subsequently bought, a pair of the fold down opera seats that are on their way to me from Wisconsin. Does anyone have any pictures of how the seats are installed? Aside from the brace under the rear window, which im guessing is either part of the seat construction, or solely in place for the headliner, there doesn't seem to be much back there to hold them in place. I rebuilt/ replaced the floor from the door sills back, but kept the same shape/ dimensions, and looking back at pictures of the original floor, there wast anything obvious to go off of. A small picture in the service manual, shows a board dividing the cabin area and the trunk, but not much in the way of details. I am guessing i will have to make something out of plywood and maybe add some tabs to mount the plywood to, with cutouts for the seat 'boxes', but if anyone has any pictures of that area from a restoration project to help point me in the right direction, i would appreciate it, thanks! 2021-06-01_10-27-54 by Dan Haas, on Flickr FB_IMG_1622197058850 by Dan Haas, on Flickr FB_IMG_1622197063786 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 2021-06-01_10-29-10 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

I misread or missed part of the original post and thought the original poster already had the materials to do a scratch built one, or harnesses to piece meal it together. Rereading it, and what i would do myself if it is available, would definitely to buy a complete harness and install it. The time saved of having something that 'just fits' is worth whatever savings there would be making your own, sourcing terminals, etc. Assuming, they are working on a 1938 Dodge 1/2 ton from their other posts, a little over $400 for the main engine, dash and body harness, and $100 for the headlight harness from Rhode Island wire would be money well spent in my opinion

The aftermarket ones i see the most are old/ refurbished Yankee 960, (along with other Yankee branded ones) turn signals, though some of them i would consider art deco in style and might not look right on a mid 1920s car, but i have seen simpler ones. https://www.google.com/search?q=yankee+turn+signal&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwip3sfOhuXwAhWsneAKHVDVDWoQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=yankee+turn+signal&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQDDICCAAyBAgAEBg6BggAEAcQHlCi7yBYsPggYNS4IWgAcAB4AIABT4gB0QKSAQE2mAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWfAAQE&sclient=img&ei=yQqtYOnVAay7ggfQqrfQBg&bih=820&biw=1206&rlz=1C1CAFB_enUS951US952 Some hot rod centric websites also have them in various styles as well, though they can look a little cheesey https://www.limeworksspeedshop.com/searchresults.asp?Search=turn+signal&Submit= https://brillman.com/product/universal-turn-signal-light-switch/ And YNZ wiring has some simple looking ones that might not look too out of place https://www.store.ynzyesterdaysparts.com/turn-signals-flashers/turn-signal-switches.html

I like wiring, i've done a few cars from scratch both in stock and custom forms, and its very satisfying if you take your time and have a good plan, and real frustrating if you try and rush through it. As far as non specific vehicle advise, get a pen and notebook, lay the harnesses and wiring you have out on the floor and slowly and leisurely, start making sense of what needs to route where, whats doing what, and start setting it out on the floor how it will be routed in the car. Leave everything a little long, especially under dash/ hard to reach things that will save you aggravation when you have to take a gauge cluster, light, etc out and you have enough wire slack to access something. Get some decent snips and crimping pliers that you wont be cursing at every time you use them. I even painted the underside of the last dash white while i was painting, so when i got to wiring that truck, it made it alot easier to see under the dash rather than being black or something and needing a flashlight for everything.

Im a pretty big glutton for punishment sheet metal and basket case project wise, have a very big soft spot for late 1930s autos, and would love to get into a Packard, but even doing most of the work oneself, this seems like it would be a very expensive, very long, and overwhelming project, without much in the way of being able to cheat around some of the inevitable high dollar costs, (the looks of that grille especially comes to mind, atleast for what ive heard about getting Packard grilles repaired)..... that doesnt mean i want it any less 😄 and if i was looking for another big personal project, this would probably be on the short list, especially with such a low buy in price. Hope whoever buys it, tries to do it right to the best of their ability, and it doesnt end up on a minitruck chassis with an ls or something

This line in the ad struck me a little funny, with the engine and trans out, and everything else sitting on a table "What I love about this car is it is unmolested. The car has not been taken apart " I dont know what the market is on them in this condition, but if the engine has been rebuilt and documented, and it doesnt get up too much more than it is now, i dont think the price is too out of line, though maybe a little steep. I've never been much of a muscle car person, but are growing on me a bit after i had the pleasure of doing the metal work on a '66 GTO for someone a few years ago. they're deceptively bigger than they look and have alot of places for rust to hide. This car doesnt really look too bad,though im sure theres more hiding that would need to be addressed, but seems like it would be very worthwhile for an avid DIY'er, without it becoming too overwhelming or too expensive of a project...but like any other project car, it has the potential to become quite expensive in both time and money

Hi everyone, I am looking for a clutch release/ throwout bearing carrier that clips onto the clutch fork for my 1937 Century coupe. Cars/ Old Buick Parts, carries the bearing itself, but not the carrier for the bearing, and where my car was parted out at some point in it's life, the carrier is long gone. If anyone has one or knows of a vendor/source for one, it would be appreciated, thanks!

The times i've seen it done, they were for hot rods, and aside from the tube being aligned and welded back together, when the shaft is cut down, a coupling was welded to the cut end to accept a u joint. I would wonder if a company like Moser Engineering, or Strange engineering, etc. both of whom make axles and driveshafts, etc, and offer re-splining services, (if a local machine shop isnt interested) would be able to respline the shortened end, rather than welding a coupling to the end, which seems a little hokey. I dont remember if the shaft in my 1937 Buick is enlarged at the u joint end, which could make some new issues if your trying to connect to stock parts.

I received my copy in the mail last night, (over a week to make it 80miles, from one Massachusetts town to another Massachusetts town) though i have only had a chance to thumb through it, it definitely seems worthwhile. i originally just bought the single copy, but i will probably be signing up for the quarterly subscription. Well put together, quality feel and beautiful pictures. Im always interested in anything related to Harry Miller, so i am especially looking forward to reading that feature.

A little getting distracted with my white truck lately that is starting to snowball a bit. but i finally stopped dragging my feet so much getting back to work on the trunk of the Buick this weekend. Somewhere along the line, with all of changes of plans and reworks, the gap of the lower part of the trunk lid had tightened up a bit, not a ton, but enough that it had to be corrected, so that was first. Marked off where the gap started tightening up, and made 2ft long slits on either side of the trunk opening with a cutting wheel, and widened it slightly. then had the cut line taper off at the top, and pulled the trunk channel back to fill in the new gap, and in turn straightened/ pulled back the perimeter to create a less noticeable new edsge. There was probably a better way to do this and cutting giant holes in a big curve wasnt something i was especially looking forward to, but it did what i wanted it to. Theres still some clean up to do, but it all kept its shape so im happy enough with it. 2021-03-01_08-00-47 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20210221_155006 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 20210220_155204 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 2021-03-01_08-01-43 by Dan Haas, on Flickr Since that was enough to know where the gaps would be, i finally started fitting in the new lower channel i made probably close to a yr ago before i pulled the body off the chassis. A few things had changed since then so this made for a 'its going to look worse, before it looks better' situation fitting the corners/ edges where the 3 or 4 pieces all meet. 2021-03-01_07-41-27 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 2021-03-01_06-16-04 by Dan Haas, on Flickr Since i had widened the opening a bit, i elected to pie cut the corners, that i had made with the shrinker/ stretcher, to fit the contour a bit better, and also cut the corner edge to make the transition from lip, to filler piece to new channel that was already put in, flow a little better. 2021-03-01_06-15-36 by Dan Haas, on Flickr First pass or 2, not a perfect edge but its a work in progress and will be corrected, theres some planishing still to do, along with the lower corner lip could use some prettying up. there is still another piece, a long strip that will connect the sides of the trunk channel and make a outward facing C channel on the lower lip. The piece i cut out of the trunk, didnt have the the upper lip, so i made the new one without it, then some research showed there should be one there, and that my car was just rotted out or was cut off during a previous owner's repair. 2021-03-01_06-17-19 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 2021-03-01_06-14-52 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 2021-03-01_06-14-25 by Dan Haas, on Flickr I'll start cleaning up the long center section welds and start the driver side corner this week sometime and can hopefully call the trunk stuff done soon

The first line of the ad says 'not $3400' . i believe facebook marketplace has some sort of maximum price cap for "used" cars and suggests the price of the car based on some formula, so the seller probably just leaves the last digit out of whatever their price is and states it in the ad. Nothing malicious about it, in my opinion.

My oldest car turned 84 this yr,and in 16yrs, that will put me at 49, which is hopefully do-able! i would like to imagine that i will still be enjoying some form of the car hobby, whatever that becomes in the future...hopefully my Buick is finished by then!

I completely understand that! My last personal project, (squarebody c10 before they became so popular and expensive!) truck snowballed into every single piece of the puzzle getting modified ranging from subtle to fairly wild. Frame laying auto leveling air suspension, full custom interior, handmade sheet metal dash, lots of metal flake, etc. and with regularly working on it, it didnt see the light of day for probably 7yrs. my Buick is staying pretty close to stock, but really i'm probably closer to a custom guy at heart. There's alot of fun that comes from the freedom of being able to do whatever, and its eventually satisfying, it just takes a long time to get there. After that truck, its definitely why my '37 is staying relatively bare bones. You'll get there, its just a long, tedious ride there!

I really like those cars, such a great shape, but unfortunately they seem very susceptible to street rodders and billet wheels when i see them in person. i dont know enough about the Studebaker market to have much feeling about the price, though in the current condition, it seems a little high, but for a running, driving, non-street rodded car, (sans the upholstery) that i dont see for sale often, maybe its in line. Was there a designation for the rumble seats versus a trunk throughout the dictator, commander to president models? I've had a picture saved in one of my folders, that i originally thought was a dictator.

That's one that i wasnt sure of, if the earlier plates would fit under the timing chain and cover of the later side mount style engines

Real handsome car you have! I may be wrong on the years, but i believe the later 1950+ 263ci engines, used side motor mounts located in the middle'ish of the block rather than a front timing cover mounting plate like the 1937 would have. I'm sure its doable to build side mounts off of the frame to mount it, but sticking with the a slightly earlier 248 engine with the front mounting plate seems like it would be alot easier. The later mounting plates are shaped slightly different than the earlier horizontal ones that would sit directly on the frame, rather than in an engine cross member with slanted mounts. I believe the move from babbited bearings was around 1948? and if you are rebuilding the engine, locating some later connecting rods with insert bearings could be something to consider. I have a 1947 engine in my 1937 Century, and had a hard time finding the correct earlier plate, so i modified the later one to work, but if you are swapping engines, you could swap your plate over as well if you are not able to find another one.

An unfortunate way to acquire a car, but at least it ended up with a friend. As for the car, there are not many cars i like as much, and would like to eventually own, as much as 1949-1954 Chevy's, (i've tried to buy several over the years, but never pans out for one reason or another). Thats a great color combination for a real handsome car

Still here, alot of not so interesting work but still puttering away and the end of the never ending metal work is in sight sort of. i also decided to blow apart my C10 truck that i built over a few yrs, starting about a decade ago, but what was cool to a 23yr old me, is a little different to what 33yr old me wants now so i'm changing a few things. It has been sitting neglected the last few years so that has been taking some of the play time and money, but i wanted it to be back together when the nice weather comes back in a few months. 2020-12-21_12-42-20 by Dan Haas, on Flickr I've been trying to eat up the rest of my vacation time before the end of the year, so this last week or so, i thought cutting big holes in the Buick would be a good use of time! I have been trying to make excuses to leave the trunk floor alone, but it had to be done, so its getting done. It was full of holes and old brazed repairs that just looked bad and with all of the other work especially in that area with the new outer tail pan, inner tail pan/ tool recess area and trunk channel, it would have been silly and lazy to leave it. when i cut it out and could see all of the swiss cheese holes, i felt a little better about it. 12 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 13 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 14 by Dan Haas, on Flickr started with a big piece of 4ft wide 18ga. i think i might upgrade my little bead roller next time i do a big floor piece, but with a little convincing it was fine, though an extra set of hands would have been helpful 15 by Dan Haas, on Flickr i cut the sides to follow the curve of the frame like the stock floor had, rounded the edges of the new "flaps" to make it look a little nicer and used a step die in the beadroller on the tops of them for the body mount bolt holes and to make them recessed a bit ( where the blue marker marks are on them, though this was before i did that) 16 by Dan Haas, on Flickr and since i had to make a cover for the fuel neck that intersects the floor to go out to the passenger side fender, now seemed like a good time to do it. It would have been easier to just drill the hole for a new tube, but i had cut out the section from the new tank i bought when i shaved the fill neck, so i just moved it over to the side. it was a pain and will still get cleaned up a bit, but it was good enough to make a new cover piece for it. 17 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 18 by Dan Haas, on Flickr 19 by Dan Haas, on Flickr i still have a few little filler pieces to make up and alot of grinding welds down to make it look nicer, but i wanted to get the big stuff done while i had the momentum ( this was from yesterday). 20 by Dan Haas, on Flickr and pulled a wheel off so i could test the spare time clamp. i do not have the tray that is supposed to cover the tire and make a false trunk floor with the side brackets, ( i was planning to cut one out of plywood and cover it in rubber mat when i get to that point) but looking at the height of the trunk floor brackets that would support the tray, im guessing the wider wheel and tire is getting in the way of that, ( i believe the wheels that came on the car are from a post war car and are 1.5" wider and a different backspacing that what would have come on a 1937 Century). i can worry about that later though 21 by Dan Haas, on Flickr

I dont have any spare splash shields from my 1937 series 60, but i did just sandblast the pair of them and could take a picture of them as they would be very easy to replicate, atleast function wise. there is a stamped design into them that i'm assuming is to make them more rigid, but something similar could be done with a power hammer, bead roller, etc.

Completely agree with you, and what i try to steer the direction of any of the cars i am involved with, keep it simple and get it to make noise first and figure out where to go from there, ( i have done several ground up cars myself from start to driving with shiny paint) . Unfortunately, (fortunately because i was looking for a several yr personal project) this car was picked pretty clean of everything outside of the sheet metal body and the frame, no running gear, interior, wiring, steering, brakes, etc. just a rusty old body with a lot of rust holes in it, sitting on a frame. Engine came out of a running car that was being parted out that i witnessed running, so while collecting the many missing parts to make a complete car, i've been going through doing the sheet metal repairs, body off the frame, chassis stripped down and rebuilt, painted etc. The vast majority of the car will be stock components, Correct engine bolted to the correct transmission, stock pedals, torque tube, stock rear end. i am just lucky that the Century series of that time used the sought after combination of big engine, stout transmission, and highway gears. A few 1940s Carter W-1 single barrels replace the stock 2 barrel and the crumbling stock intake, and a sweeping exhaust header to replace the very crumbling stock exhaust manifold, so nothing really ground breaking. i'll pm you a pic since its a little off topic

It's the best kind of motivation, especially after my last project got a little side tracked and in the end, while it looked good and the part, it wasn't something i wanted to take on any long roadtrips, ( i currently have it ripped apart to rebuild and remedy that a little bit at least). Hoping to have the '37 Buick making noise and be shiny black by this time next yr, hopefully sooner if i can get my act together, and judging from Mchinson's posts in this thread, with his 1937 Buick century, it should make for a good long distance driver. A few deviations from stock with a multi carb intake and homespun exhaust/ header, but still a Buick 320 straight 8, stock big series transmission, Century rear end, and 6 volt, etc.

@TTR i started reading this thread this morning and for the first page or 2, i was thinking 'this reminds me of that thread on the Hamb of a guy and his wife in their early '30s plymouth roadster from a few years ago" then a page later, lo and behold! From the dates of that thread, it was posted in late September 2017, a few weeks after i bought my rusty pile of a 1937 Buick Century coupe, and i have to thank you for it as it really gave me the bug and pointed me in the direction of what i want to do with it, build it to take on some extended drives and road trips while keeping it an old car. I still have a considerable amount of work before it will be out on the road, but with the thinking of 'how can i make this easier to service for the sake of my future 'stuck on the side of the road' self' and plan accordingly. Keep posting your travels, (along with everyone else and their travels), they're great motivation for those still building their own 'touring' car!

Thank you for the added pictures @Gary W, they're especially going to be helpful in getting the right bends to recreate the neck to my aftermarket tank. Having the flexible coupling in line of the filler neck seems like the way to go in making things a little easier to build as well as when installing/ aligning the rear fender. i'll get some stuff ordered for this today or tomorrow, as i would like to get this done before i cut out the trunk floor where i will need to drop the tank for that and can finish welding it up while its out of the car, or that's the plan at least. thanks again!